


Outcry of Obstinance

by StrawberryCreamsicle



Category: Original Work
Genre: Aftercare, Angst and Humor, Begging, Bondage and Discipline, Character Death, Coercion, Corruption, Dom/sub, Eventual Romance, Exhibitionism, F/F, Flashbacks, Fluff and Smut, Forced Orgasm, Gags, Gang War, Gods, Heavy BDSM, Hero Complex, Humiliation, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Torture, Japanese Rope Bondage, Journalism, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Sex, Major Character Injury, Masochism, Mass Death, Mental Health Issues, Metahumans, Murder, Non-Sexual Submission, Organized Crime, Orgasm Control, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Painplay, Past Abuse, Plot Twists, Predicament Bondage, Racism, Reluctant Submission, Revenge, Scarification, Secret Identity, Secrets, Sensory Deprivation, Service Kink, Sex Toys, Silence Kink, Slow Burn, Superpowers, Swearing, Teasing, Telekinesis, Trauma, Useless Lesbians, Verbal Humiliation, Vigilantism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 02:27:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21800101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrawberryCreamsicle/pseuds/StrawberryCreamsicle
Summary: In this world powered people have only existed for a little over three years. A group called the Celestial Six has made great strides in saving the world and the people inhabiting it from the crises that plague it. Global warming has been stopped, the oceans are clean, and everyday this collective of heroes works to make a better future. However, this is not their story, rather instead we follow a mysterious seventh vigilante. They were the first Metahuman to emerge, though nobody understands their powers, or if they even have any. Known as The Spectre they only occupy a single city in Ontario, Canada. The Celestial Six have never entered this city and seem frightened of The Spectre. But what would happen when one brash reporter tries to interview the impossible? And what would happen if the impossible responded? In this case an idiot lesbian falls in love with the impossible and tries to prove a point.
Kudos: 5





	1. Foundation Of Glass

Reina Wiles was a famous reporter most known for her work in naming and popularizing the efforts of a group of heroes known as the Celestial Six. Reina ran a highly renowned news outlet called the Keystone Gazette, she lived a cushy yet dissatisfying life. Reina carried with her a deep regret that embedded itself into everything she did. The group known for saving the world from the cusp of total annihilation had not been the first metahuman's. No that title belonged to a mysterious individual who had appeared in Castor, Ontario three years ago. They had only been seen once and never again since, plenty of reporters following the original sighting had gone to that city in the hopes of being the first to document god like beings among us. Even though it had been Reina who documented this first instance, it wasn't with the vigilante of Castor, it was the Celestial Six. So after too long carrying this regret and trying to bury it in work, drinking, and sex she decided to make an executive decision. The next day when she came to the head office of the Gazette located in Keystone California, she announced her plan. 

Reina stepped on a desk, her long curly black hair falling in front of her face causing her to spit it out. Her skin was a dark brown, juxtaposed by patches of white visible on her face, hands, and legs. On her face it formed a deformed circular shape around her eye, a distinctive feature that drew her much scrutiny from internet cretins who attempted to belittle all she did. But despite her vitiligo she had still managed to be a model for many years. She was 6'1" with vibrant hazel eyes, with long toned legs that could kick an attacker through a thin wall. Her striking appearance was both a blessing and a curse, in this instance it helped to garner the attention of all the busy workings attempting to keep up to date with goings on. Reina smiled and looked over all her work, all of this had come from her and she was fucking proud. Clearing her throat she spoke in a clear but triumphant voice.

"Hey, stop what you're doing for a second and all eyes on me.", Reina was dripping with charisma, when she spoke people that knew her and her intentions couldn't help but smile. Her voiced oozed with a passion so rarely found in the cutthroat world of journalism. 

"Yeah boss?", her ace reporter Renee Evans replied in her usual poorly masked serious tone. She and Reina had gone to University together and they had built the company together. Though Renee decided to take a back seat and let Reina fulfill her dreams of being in the spotlight. The two even had a brief romantic fling that both treasured but knew didn't work. Now looking upon her boss she tried her best not to smile at the overly animated delivery of her friend. 

"I'm going back to Castor, and some of you are coming with me! But I hear you saying, Reina what the fuck doesn't that place make you unbearably depressed, the very thought causing you to breakdown? And to that I say; yes, it certainly does! But, if the Celestial Six are real, this vigilante must be too! So no matter how long it takes I'm gonna stay there until I can land an interview with them and prove they exist.", Reina's voice rose and fell as she waved her arms about trying to express her point in the fashion she found most comfortable.

Murmurs erupted around the office, and some people simply just returned to their work. Renee pulled the woman from the desk she was stood atop of and dragged her into Reina's private office. It was a large room with a series of large glass windows that looked out on the botanical gardens adjacent to the office. Reina's office was a mess, it had nicknacks, papers, and wires strewn about everywhere. The only clean part of the whole room was a large black desk with a velvet coloured leather chair. Shelves lined both walls and numerous plants hung from the ceiling. For a professional the space Reina occupied was nothing short of childish. Though that could describe her outward appearance in its entirety, she was just a kid following her dreams. But Renee knew better, she knew Reina and that each decision she made came with a lot of doubt and the unwanted intrusion of her imposter syndrome. So as a concerned friend she sat down in one of the couches that lined the wall of the room. She ushered for Reina to take a seat, and she did, only cross legged, and on top of her desk. Sighing heavily and running a hand through her platinum blonde hair Renee spoke up and raised her concerns.

"So uh, Castor, really? Like I know you, and this has been hanging over your head for years. Your therapist has explicitly said not to go back there.", Renee stared at her friend with an expression akin to that of a concerned mother. Her voice was harsh and dry, there was no inflection, she was not wavering. 

"Jeez, what'd Canada do to you, I happen to like them and their countr-", Reina was cut off as Renee butted in.

"You're deflecting Reina, it's just me you can be honest. So why now, and why not go do something else. Didn't like Elon Musk offer to give you an exclusive on the Cyber truck?", Renee was robotically reciting back to Reina the same series of offers she had gotten over the past few months. She did this to dissuade Reina from making brash decisions.

"Fine, I know this is sudden and kinda makes it seem like I'm on the verge of a mental crisis but I swear I'm not. I got sent video evidence that she, yes she, is still in Castor. I can show you the video tape, though it's insanely graphic.", Reina's normally chipper voice had descended into a low harsh whisper. Her hands were shaking and she hopped off her desk to retrieve the tape.

"Alright show me, if I think this isn't a hoax, which it most likely is, I'll join you. Just, don't get your hopes up, I don't wanna see you heartbroken again. So just remember whatever he, she, they, are just don't be disappointed if it's kids playing a prank.", Renee's voice was gentle and consoling, she was recalling some of Reina's darkest moments and was scared to possibly live through another.

Reina just smiled as she shifted through her desk and took out a silver CD. She inserted it into her computer and it whirred to life, the video soon started and she turned the monitor around to face her concerned friend. The video started pretty mundane but Reina kept fastforwarding until they arrived at the main event. The camera recording the incident was placed outside of Alexander Sionis's club the Crimson Siren. Alexander was a billionaire that just suddenly rose to power after supporting the political dealings of Canada's previous Prime Minister. Most assumed it was just a front as there was a mountain of evidence pointing to him being the crime lord nicknamed Sir Null. Regardless his club in Castor was one of many profitable business ventures he ran, legal or otherwise. It was no surprise that where scantily clad women danced and men drank that there would be crime. And crime there was as four men emerged from the club, Renee watched with eyes raised to see where this went. 

The three men hurled a woman onto the sidewalk, her gold dress slipping off her shoulders and her shoes falling off. Before they could grab the dancer she scurried into a nearby alley and pushed herself up against a dumpster. She took her heel off and broke the heel to use as a weapon. The gang of men walked in after her, each producing a knife. They hurled various slurs at the terrified woman and detailed their plans for her. However before they could get closer to her a loud thud could be heard as a mysterious figure rose in front of the men. It was The Spectre, Castor's vigilante that had vanished two years ago after a single sighting. Only this time she was clad in a black suit weaved from different fabrics with various thin plates of armour covering it. Her arm gauntlets were spray painted a chrome red and had four blades jutting out from each. Her belt was askew and painted the same colour. She was wearing a black metal helmet that covered everything but her mouth, revealing stark white skin juxtaposed by ruby red lipstick. Bright white piercing eyes illuminated a small ways in front of her, and finally the most noticeable feature was the hair pouring from the top of the helmet. It fell to her shoulders and was a translucent silver, it looked almost digital. The men gawked at her as she flung her tattered cape in front of her figure to confuse them. The leader put his knife away in favour of a gun, which he fired absently into the alley. The woman had already been evacuated and now it was just the four of them versus The Spectre. She came fast and hard kicking one of the goons legs so hard it bent in a direction it shouldn't have causing bone to jut from flesh. Blood spewed from the wound and with one push to the ground there were only three left. She made quick work of the other three, she smashed the face of another against the brick wall of the alley sending teeth clattering to the ground. The other two she simply beat with her fists until they were a bloody, battered mess on the ground. Once they were all dispatched she disappeared into the night and the video cut off.

"And you think that woman is the same person as our vigilante? I don't see it.", Renee sounded unimpressed in her tone but her face gave away that she was convinced, if not a little mortified by what she had just witness.

"I'm positive that's the one. I didn't expect the wardrobe change or the fact that they appear to be a woman. But, I can safely say this is something I need to do. I need to know, the entire world needs know if there are more gods amongst us!", in moments like this the real Reina came out, her quivering voice and lack of assurance plagued each word that left her mouth. Despite this, despite both herself and those around her telling her to give it up, Reina never did, and Renee knew she couldn't stop her."

"Fine, when do we leave?", Renee said followed by an exasperated sigh, she knew there was no stopping her friend from seeking out what she had on her mind.

"A week from today", Reina said excitedly jumping on the couch beside Renee and raising her hand for a high five. Renee left her hanging for a few moments.

"Lord help me.", she said her exasperation fully overcoming her mostly nuanced tone. She high fived the excited woman beside her.


	2. Puzzle Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reina, Renee, and a few other reporters from the gazette set up shop in Castor. Alexander Sionis hunts for a ghost, and panic sets in as multiple parties worry about the validity of their lives works.

Reina stepped out of the airport and gawked at the plethora of new sky rises that had been erected since her last time in the city. Snow was swirling in the air and icicles swayed dangerously from the eaves of roofs. Castor was a gothic city that had been unwillingly spliced with the obsessive nature of modernization. Large, gothic buildings overgrown with roofs turned a pale green were dwarfed by even bigger buildings built in only the most 21st century way. They were pristine, with huge windowed panels and contained, well trimmed gardens. Nothing was out of place, and this conformity of architectural planning led to the appearance of the old being eaten by the new. A sacrifice of the Celestial Sixes incursion on the natural demise of humanity was that in order for our survival we would have to give up the purely aesthetic choices of days long since past. Every single material that made up something performed some form of purification to the world around it. This however lead to animals and plants being quarantined to sections of the earth untouched by man, the memories of those beautiful creatures doomed to fade in the minds of the next generations. However, Castor was an enigma, there were no cleaning crews working round the clock to keep the streets clean. And stray animals roamed aimlessly, birds chirped and stole from unwitting citizens. Castor was fighting back against the forceful nature of progress due to the presence of The Spectre. She scared the clandestine heroes of the six, causing them to not spread their abilities to the city. Only men as brave and corrupt as Alexander Sionis dared to undermine the power of Castor's vigilante. The city had such a rich character to it, as if it was the last fighting chance humanity had at keeping relics of the past alive. This place was a warzone for different political groups, many thought the armies of the world should just occupy the city and flush The Spectre out and kill her. Others believed that the cities current state needed to be perceived in order to never forget what came before the Celestial Six intervened. 

Reina burrowed herself in her jacket and pushed forward to the large van she had requested on her phone moments earlier. Reina, Renee, and all of those brave enough to join the two piled into the vehicle with all their equipment and luggage following suit. It was cramped but Reina didn't care, at this point she was laser focused on finding this elusive vigilante regardless of what it took. An hour passed before the van stopped in front of a old brick building with a large greenhouse atop it. The building used to be an apartment building, Castor's finest. Reina had rented it out and decided to live in it while she was here. She had spent the millions she had acquired from her ever popularizing career to furnish and equip the place for her purposes. It would both act as respite from her work, and the place where that work would be conducted. She had also set up places in the city for her workers, she wouldn't let anyone, not even Renee live with her. Reina was a private woman, nobody, not even Renee had ever seen her nude, nobody had ever seen her cry. Despite her outwardly appearance Reina was battling with herself constantly. Despite this her chipper, undefeated attitude maintained itself, and as she waved the van to take her employees to their temporary homes she entered the building, closed the door and slumped to the floor. Reina burst into tears, ugly crying, her chest heaving as her body failed to form full breathes. She sat there for what seemed like years before dragging her personal belongings to the penthouse, opting to leave the actual reporting equipment to be set up with the aid of her crew later. Riding the elevator up she shed her long red wool coat, it was suffocatingly warm inside this building. The caretakers she had hired to set up the place had went the extra mile to make the place habitable, making Reina opt into the idea of calling them back just to pay them more. And after viewing her new place of residence she made that call almost immediately. But while Reina explored her new place, almost forgetting about this vigilante business, someone else was in the thick of it.

In the older district of Castor sat an abandoned warehouse once used for storage of goods by a long since bankrupt company. Graffiti riddled the decrypt building, one ironic piece indicating that The Spectre was a hoax. The irony was that beneath this inoffensive old warehouse was the hub of all the vigilantes activities, her home base. It was littered with custom weaponry and tech, an entire room was a dedicated workshop for The Spectre to create new weapons to terrorize the criminals of Castor. The layout of the place was a long corridor with various different rooms each with a different purpose. At the end of the corridor sat an open room with a huge array of electronic devices, at the centre of which was a long metal desk with various keyboards,radios, and radars that hooked into a large series of monitors, each displaying parts of the city as well as The Spectre's vitals. A woman with long red hair sat in a black wheeling chair, she slid from left to right shifting dials and pressing buttons. She was wearing a large black wool sweater and white ripped jeans, she was heavily tattooed and had a chunk of skin missing on her chin. Loud, pronounced footsteps echoed through the corridor as a helmet was slammed onto a table in the corner of the room. The woman in the chair turned to face the figure who had just entered. With a snide smile she opened her mouth to welcome back her partner. 

"Andrea, bad night? I told you Alexander is on high alert after you brutalized those men outside of his club. We can't just kill him right now, you knew this so don't throw a fit now. I told you not to go out, yet you did, and now you risk your existence being known.", the tone of this woman was dryly sarcastic, she spoke while trying to fight back an "I told you so" smile. 

"Now is not the fucking time, Marie.", the woman spoke in a low, tired tone that if she had spoken any longer her voice would have given out. 

"What the hell happened out there? You look like hell, was I wrong did the healing factor not kick in yet?", the snarky tone Marie had used just moments before turned into genuine concern, she was using her words carefully as to not further set off the agitated woman. 

"There is no fucking healing factor! It was goddamn bullshit to assume there was anymore abilities for me to unlock! This, this isn't some game Marie. Because of your shitty intel I was ballsy and the Highlanders unleashed some new kinda weapon on me, not just me mind you, the girls they've kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery. I watched a twelve year old girl die tonight! And worst of all?! They know I exist, and the weaponry they can build now could fucking kill Celeste! Celeste, you know her right?! The fucking leader of the Celestial Six, they have weapons that could kill a god!", Andrea was seething with anger, but her voice was cracking as if she was on the verge of tears. Andrea had gotten so angry that in the middle of her ravings her abilities acted up causing several monitors to shatter. 

"I-I didn't know, I thought you were more powerful than them, how could I have been wrong? Those girls are dead and it's. . .they're dead because of me." Marie shrunk down into her chair as her defeated tone finally broke giving way to tears. She sobbed as she turned away from the livid vigilante. 

"Don't, come on don't do that, it's not your fault, I just need to train harder. I saved the rest, it took a lot out of me and the suit is completely trashed, and y'know I'm losing blood but we did it. Regardless of if ALL your intel was right, the location and numbers were. Those girls who lived get to live full lives, and the public Andrea has the means to get them the psychiatric help they need. We won, it's just, I got scared, and my abilities stopped working, I'm sorry I yelled at you.", Andrea spoke calmly and apologetically as she approached the defeated woman. She silently asked if she could hug the sobbing woman, and with a nod of consent she wrapped her arms around her. Marie looked up at her and silently forgave her. 

"So it worked out somewhat then? The Highlanders are running to the hills?" Marie sniffled as she nestled herself into the embrace of the muscular woman embracing her. 

"Yes, I alerted our guy in the police department and they'll be raiding Maxwell Portage's office anytime now. He, the weapons, and the Highlanders are done for. You did it, and as usual I kinda blew things outta proportion. If I train more, I can get stronger than the six and finally stop these weapons from getting out of the city. And without Maxwell, Alexander is gonna get hurt too." Andrea's tone had turned empathetic as she pulled away from the woman. Andrea was a tall, muscular woman, she had bleach white skin caused by her metahuman abilities, her hair was buzz cut short and dark brown in colour. She was wearing her suit which had been torn apart by a weapon developed by the Highlanders, she collapsed to the floor as blood pooled around her.

Andrea awoke later in the medical bay with only a pair of black leggings on her figure. She was bandaged up and her dull grey eyes darted around the room for signs of her friend. Marie was observing an X-Ray she had taken while Andrea was unconscious. Nothing was seriously wrong, and with strained movements Andrea sat up and dangled her legs off the medical bed. Marie turned around and frowned at the vigilante. She urged her to rest more so they could discuss next steps and whether or not training would aid in the expansion of her powers. Andrea however waved off her concern and stood up with the loud crack of bones accompanying each movement she made. Andrea in her day to day was a decently well to do engineer with her sights set on the most human aspects of life. She spent what money she had in the service of others, and her crusade as The Spectre. She was an outspoken supporter of the Celestial Six and had collaborated with them before, ironic given her vigilante identities relationship with the group. Andrea was eager to leave the bunker as the next day she had a meeting discussing the sex trafficking plaguing Castor. She left the bunker despite explicit protests from her partner. She ignored Marnie and set off into the cold, at the same time Reina was rediscovering the warmth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two already?! Don't expect such rapid succession in the future from me, I just have a fire burning in me right now and I need to create. That aside this chapter focuses on the reality of The Spectre and begins to contextualize her side of the story. Next chapter will be a little bit of a flashback exploring the origins of Andrea's abilities, her relationship with Marie, and how Castor became the way it is. Then we return to Reina and have the first interaction between the two. Also you'll have to pardon the two main protagonists being wealthy, I wrote myself into a corner and couldn't escape. I'll make changes to Andrea so she's constantly spending it on the larger world, and helping people rather than herself. Showing the distinct natures of our two ladies. One laser focused on her own ideals and the other focused on making up for previous misdeeds. I hope you'll enjoy the fleshing out of Reina and Andrea and how they became the people they are.


	3. Yet another origin story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrea becomes the impossible, Marie's pain and guilt begin, and Alexander Sionis looms large as he consumes all assets in his wake. A jump to the past provides context for each characters endgames in present day.

George Millar grew up wanting to be a lawyer, his parents had no interest and forced him to tend to their farm. A farm of which he inherited after their passing and made his own, if his reality had to be confined to the plains of Alberta, he'd at least enjoy it. And enjoy it he did, finding love in his wife Cynthia who ran a very successful flower shop in the closest city. The two were happy despite not having much money between them, instead they found enjoyment where they were. Eventually however the time came where they thought it was time to raise a family. In 1987 James was born, then Craig and Sam the twins of the family came in the summer of 92'. It was the perfect family, and they had no plans to conceive any other children, until the sudden and unexpected pregnancy Cynthia experienced in October of 1995. This strained the Millar marriage, almost to the point of divorce, but for the sake of their three beautiful sons the pair stuck together. However when Andrea was born, she was not met with kindness, both George and Cynthia begrudgingly took her home and raised her coldly and without love. She was unwanted and her entire life would be categorized by that notion. 

\------2002------

Andrea was now six years old, and had been tending to the chickens per her father's request. Her brothers were inside playing on the PlayStation their mother had bought them for getting solid A's in their classes. Andrea was vastly more intelligent to her siblings, forcing herself to go the extra mile just to be praised by the people she loved most in the world. However they never did, she was never good enough and even after the poor girl had her innocence stolen in the woods by a group of high schoolers, she was only met with rage and threats of punishment if she told anyone else. Anger coursed through her veins as she fed the chickens. After she finished she stormed to the house ready to yell and scream at her parents to give her a break, but instead she found herself shaking in fear as she reached for the doorknob, tears pouring down her cheeks as she heaved. Turning to the lawnmower sitting adjacent to the house, her next task she walked to it, and in a mix of hate and sorrow she kicked it with the full force of a six year old. Only instead of a deep, visceral pain in her foot she was greeted instead to the sound of grinding metal. Andrea had completely destroyed the mower, the blade had gone flying through the window and into the house. Her enraged parents walked outside to see what their daughter had done now and were greeted to the strange sight of their daughter turning white, quite literally. The colour from Andrea's skin had seemingly been erased and she was now bleach white, her dull grey eyes piercing into the souls of her horrified parents. 

The Millar's wasted precious time during harvest season rushing their daughter from hospital to hospital, trying to pawn her off on any doctor who would take her. Someone did take her, and Andrea experienced the worst pain in her life. She was abused daily, crying out to go home and see her parents, but nobody was listening. Doctors poked and prodded in the most unkind of ways, experimenting her limitations in the form of beatings and exhausting rituals to stretch the limits of her seemingly unending strength. No six year old should have experienced such an injustice, and eventually Andrea was liberated by a foster family. No conclusive answers came to the doctors, so they threw Andrea into the streets where she was eventually saved and brought to a loving home. By this point though she was losing all trust in those around her, she was rail thin and reclusive. Hiding away in the room she was given, growing her intelligence, ready to return to school. And she did, excelling in all of her courses, taking a keen interest in justice and the difference between her and her male classmates. She was far beyond her age in terms of understanding, and people started to notice. Her foster parents tried their best to keep up with her interests but often found themselves lost. Andrea rarely talked to them, and when they rewarded her or praised her she would flinch and repulse, unable to enjoy it. But slowly life became normal, routines formed and Andrea began to ease into her new life. 

\------2014------

Andrea was now in grade twelve and worked full time as a librarian, she had dated a woman named Lila for awhile, until she too broke Andrea's trust and used her to suit a purpose. Andrea had only grown more despondent about her own existence and was a pushover, an easy mark. She could stop the people who hurt her, she felt her abilities surge and grow in potency. But still she did nothing, it meant nothing to her, life had already robbed her of so much, what good was having superhuman abilities if she could not revert the atrocities done unto her. Andrea's only solace was in the greenhouse attached to her high-school, where she studied and practiced law and engineering in privacy. The teacher who maintained the greenhouse Mrs.Kyle had hired Andrea to maintain it in her place when she saw not only how successful Andrea was with plants, but the genuine joy it brought her. Mrs.Kyle was one of very few people that Andrea trusted with her passions. Not even her own foster parents new of her talents to create, and debate. But her circle of trust was about to change with her fated interaction with one Marie Foster. 

It was time for Physical Education, this week was volleyball, which Andrea excelled at despite having no interest. The girls locker room was alive with indistinct chatter about all the trivial goings on that these superficial harpies clung to. Andrea was nothing like them, she was quiet and unobtrusive never trying to make a splash. She had earned the nickname Spectre from her classmates due to her pigment and eerily inhuman presence. She never raised any objections to the taunts and physical harassment brought upon her, she just gave others what they wanted and tried her best to do what she set out to do, change the world, fix the shitty systems in place. So while her classmates tried, and succeeded in making names for themselves be that good or bad Andrea just created and gave credit to whoever most suited her ideal spokesperson. And today in the locker room nothing was much different, that is until all the stalls in the adjacent bathroom had been occupied by other body shy girls like Andrea. Left to change in the not so private locker room section she reluctantly lifted her top to reveal numerous scars and permanent bruises occupying her bleach white torso. She quivered in fear waiting for the inevitable beratement from her peers. And it came, they said things like she deserved those markings, she was too easy and got what she deserved. Alongside a myriad of slurs. But soon the taunting stopped as an unfamiliar voice shouted her objection. 

"Hey, leave her alone you fucking assholes! She's obviously not comfortable, it's not like she wants to gross you out. She's already scared enough, so just like leave her the fuck alone. None of us look perfect, so stop pretending like she's anything worse than any of you topless.", The woman was shorter than Andrea but had a loud, projecting voice that was nothing short of assertive. She had long straight red hair, tanned skin and hundreds of freckles. Her eyes were a deep green and they seemed gentle. The other girls muttered and cleared out and the new girl approached Andrea.

"You shouldn't have done that, you're gonna be a target now. I just let them get away with it, I know I could stop it, but there's no point. I've wasted energy on bigger bad guys before and they were never punished. Nothing works anymore, so, they can just keep on beating down the little guys.", Andrea was still shaking in fear her hands quivering to put on her gym clothes. The new girl smiled calmly and put a hand on Andrea's scarred shoulder. She flinched and pulled away as tears involuntarily leaked from her eyes. 

"Woah, hey, hey don't cry I shouldn't have touched you I was just trying to be comforting. Look, you're bleak, kinda freakish looking and obviously seen some tough shit. But I'm the same way, just instead of rolling over I respond with humour to deflect, fuck I need to stop doing that. And oversharing, and, y'know what? No, this wasn't how I meant to say this. What I meant to say was, I get it sis, I've been through it too, had to move schools just to escape. But I think you and I could be good friends, the rejects gotta stick together. I'm Marie by the way, should've lead with that.", Marie's tone was genuine, with a hint of kindness and optimism behind her poorly planned words. She removed her hand from Andrea's shoulder to further cement her good faith.

"You saw how the other girls treat me, that's the treatment you could expect if you stand alongside me. So just, go, you'll end up abandoning me anyway. Everybody starts with good intentions but they inevitably can't handle the awful things people do. You've seen me, my body and every scar and bruise that ruins it. What kind of rational person signs up to handle that kinda baggage?", Andrea sniffled wiping her tears, shakingly standing and wincing as she pulled her top down. Her tone was dejected, utterly hopeless. 

"Fuck rationality, like I said I understand what it's like to feel utterly hopeless. I don't care, sorry not what I meant, what I mean is it doesn't matter what happened to you. A good person reaches out to those who are struggling. And sis, it's obvious you are not doing so hot. So, just take a chance? The only risk you're taking is finally having someone to confide in.", A smile curved it's way onto Marie's face as she spoke in a soothing tone. She reached her hand out as she spoke and Andrea took it. Only suddenly Marie's hand was suddenly turning blue, almost black, and the room had gotten freezing. 

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, I'm so sorry! You need to leave now!", Andrea's mortified tone were reflected in her movements as she violently ripped herself from Marie's personal space. The room was turning into an ice box, everything slowly being coated in thick layers of ice. Objects lifted from their places and were thrown about, Andrea was panicking trying to get it to stop. 

"Hey, are you doing this?! That's fucking cool, y'know except for you almost taking my hand. What are you? Like some kinda superhero?", Marie was unfazed and she looked around ecstatic, despite chattering teeth and a shivering body. 

"I'm sorry, I don't know how to stop it, this just happens sometimes when I feel overwhelming emotion. And now we're gonna die and, and-", Andrea stammered hopelessly as Marie silently approached the panicked girl. Marie wrapped her arms around Andrea and objects clattered to the ground and the ice slowly vanished. 

From that day forward Andrea and Marie became quite close. So close that Andrea even allowed Marie to witness the full extent of the other woman's powers. They would tell Andrea's foster parents they were studying at Marie's and then go to the abandoned scrap yard outside of town and experiment. They found out Andrea was some sort of telekinetic with control over temperatures. Not only that she was stronger, faster, and a whole hell of a lot more durable than the world's greatest athlete. The year moved by fast and when graduation came both girls were prepared to say goodbye as Andrea had been quite vocal of her plans to accept the scholarship to a school outside of Alberta. But Marie surprised her friend, saying she had got accepted to the same place. This elicited a fundamental change in Andrea, she had someone who wouldn't abandon her. 

\------2018------

It was both ladies last year at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Andrea was due in Castor, Ontario starting in October to be inaugurated as the District Attorney for the city. It was everything she wanted, and in the meantime she built up her engineering career by helping the Sionis Corporation develop new bio-technology. And Marie was doing fantastically as well, she was just proposed to by the man of her dreams and was hired by Google to test vulnerabilities in their operating systems. Life was good for the girls, they shared an apartment in downtown Kingston and Andrea was slowly mastering her abilities. But their worlds were about to change in the coming months.

It was now April 5th, 2018 and Andrea was at home when Marie stormed in sobbing uncontrollably. When she turned to slam the door a vase with violets in it shook and fell from the counter shattering. Andrea moved from her place at the computer to clean it up. While she did Marie paced around angrily stringing together a colourful train of profanities. Andrea knew better than to ask what was wrong, and allowed for Marie to commence her rant. 

"So I was in the fucking social sciences building right, and there's Alexander Sionis's brat kid Damian and his gang of high class assholes talking shit about you again. And I wanted to storm up to them but Miles stopped me, my own fucking fiance said he didn't want me to make a scene! He has the gall to be embarrassed by me, he doesn't fucking know how often this shit happens.", Marie was fuming and she stopped to tell Andrea to stop cleaning, Andrea apologized and winced when Marie raised her voice at her.

"Sorry, Marie, it's my fault. I told Mr.Sionis's son I wouldn't let him take credit for my project again. He got angry, validly so, and y'know he must've carried that all day.", Andrea murmured her words trying to hide her complacency from her friend. They had spent many years trying to regrow Andrea's backbone and the process was working for the most part, but sometimes she regressed into her more passive mindset when people were angry. 

"Andrea, honey it isn't your fault. You work your ass off for Alexander and he doesn't give you any fucking credit, and then his own son has the balls to make you do the same during lectures and labs. It's ridiculous! I told you that family is desensitized, they're rich assholes, and have you seen the slew of evidence connecting Alexander to rigging the recent election and bribing world leaders to back off so he can make weapons in peace. I know you work for the guy because you believe in his message of world peace, but dude's a fucking two faced crook. And his son isn't any better.", Marie leaned down and took the dustpan from Andrea, ushering with her hands for the girl to scoot away and let her clean.

"I know there's the allegations, I-I even know about THOSE allegations. But I can't leave, between you and I, I'm using his resources to build my own portfolio of successes. If I fail at my law pursuits, I thought I might open a tech company and combat all this terrible shit. I don't want to use my abilities, both human and metahuman for profit. I wanna make sure nobody gets hurt like I did. And Sionis has the money to let me do it.", Andrea stood up and rubbed her shoulder uncomfortably, her tone was shaky and uncertain. She was not one at this current point in her life to lie, cheat, or incite violence.

"Andrea Nora Millar! You bad bitch, I knew you could never genuinely support a fucking gobeshite like Sionis! I'm so proud of you, honestly that alone makes today's incident worth it. Let that stupid fucking family concern themselves with how much money they're making and how many folks they swindle. Right under their noses is a badass young lady who's gonna fucking change the world. Goddamn I love you sometimes sis.", Marie's anger had entirely slipped away and she was now excitedly praising Andrea, something she knew that Andrea rarely experienced. It caused the other woman to blush slightly and cross her arms trying to protest, but Marie wouldn't let her get a word in.

The brief moment of levity was cut short by an alert on Andrea's phone that the engineering lab she had housed her project in had just been broken into. The friends exchanged a knowing glance, Marie's made with steely determination and Andrea's built on fear and bubbling anxiety. Marie silently mouthed for Andrea to go and stop the thieves, finally revealing herself to the world. But Andrea was having none of it, the police could handle it, this wasn't the time for vigilantism. That was until Marie received a text from her fiance alerting the pair that Miles was in the building and was currently cornered by a panicked Damian Sionis who had shot his way in with a gang of masked friends. According to Miles daddy didn't agree that Damian was entitled to Andrea's work and this led the boy to his tipping point. Marie stiffened at the news, one of several times Andrea had seen her best friend ever speechless. And without exchanging further words Andrea stormed into her bedroom and emerged moments later dressed in black jeans, a black hoodie and a balaclava on her face, eyes obscured by orange tinted ski goggles. Wordlessly thanking her Marie watched as Andrea sprung into action, jumping from the window onto the next buildings. Her spry, practiced movements surprising her friend as she effortlessly leapt from building to building with as of yet unseen agility. And Marie knew, the world was about to change for Andrea Millar.

Arriving not minutes later Andrea burst through the front doors to panicked students scurrying, she heard no gunfire but followed a trail of destruction to the lab in which her project was housed. Upon entering guns were pointed at her, only they weren't aimed with certain hands, the boys who held them were quivering clearly not as invested in this heist as their enabler Damian was. He was busying himself with ogling the complex machinery in his hands. It was a serum Andrea had created from jellyfish venom that could cure mass cell death. She had wrote a dissertation on the properties a year prior, and for her final project she had decided to put it into practice with the aid of a small team. But for the first time ever, Andrea asserted herself and excluded the manipulative Damian from the crew, her job be damned. The snooty brat turned to the new figure who had just entered the room and proceeded to dangle the vile in a dangerously loose grip. After a lengthy silence Damian broke it with a chiding remark.

"Who the hell are you supposed to be, some kinda hero? Fuck right off, none of this would've happened if that bitch had just let me work with her. And relax, nobodies hurt, badly.", his words were confident but his body language was anything but. He was shaking, making the loose grip he had on the vile even more concerning. Damian clearly was scared shitless at the prospect of what he had just done. But it didn't stop him, he continued. Goading the disguised Andrea to respond. 

"You lunatic, put the damn vile down. All of this because a student wouldn't let you rob them of their accomplishment? You're pathetic, and how exactly did you expect to get away with this? You broke in here, assaulted innocent people, you're lucky if you walk out of here alive.", Andrea's stance was tense, ready to spring into action and fight the group of boys who had their guns trained on her. She gruffly altered her voice to disguise it, making her sound incredibly angry.

"Doesn't matter, my dad is Alexander Sionis, I'd be out in a week. I'll show him, I did this all, planned it all to show him I'm capabled.", Damian was jumbling his words as his voice grew more and more uncertain in tone. He was teetering on the edge of making an awful decision and Andrea needed to stop him.

The next few moments happened in a blur, Andrea lunged for the vile, tackling Damian to the ground. He shouted out an order and one of the boys fired off a shot, missing Andrea and hitting a canister of compressed air in the corner of the room. It burst and ricocheted into a cabinet of flammables, which were set ablaze in a large chemical fire. Wide eyed and filled with fear the boys ditched their leader and ran for the exit. Leaving the two of them alone in a lab that was quickly becoming engulfed in flames. Andrea swallowed the festering ball of volatile emotions that was trying to engulf her rationality and concentrated on trying to alter the temperature in the air. Only, nothing happened her abilities were on the fritz at the worst time. So instead she had to manually pick up an in shock Damian and rush him to the exit of the building. She roughly hurled him outside with a growing crowd of students. She returned inside to rescue any stragglers, and she made swift work of it as her nerves quickly turned to steel and her powers gradually came back. Her telekinetic powers now back to a degree she lifted herself to the second floor and kicked the door into the largest lecture hall. A professor was desperately trying to save his notes when the fire entered the room, with little options left as fire creeped in around him Andrea opened the window and used her abilities to lower the man to the grass below. Now exhausted after straining herself beyond any measure she had up to this point, she collapsed and so did the building around her.

Hours passed and first responders combed through the rubble of the engineering building. They had turned up nothing of note until Andrea finally awoke, and ripped herself from the heavy bits of rebar that she was trapped beneath. Her clothes were scorched, and she suffered burns on her back, arms, and thighs before her abilities started functioning again and her durability increased beyond normal human levels. She tore the ripped hoodie from her back, leaving her starkly exposed. Her bleach white skin became riddled with goosebumps from the cool evening breeze. She hazily darted her eyes around to see where she was, and was greeted with the unwanted attention of several firefighters. They spoke to her in slow, easy sentences to gauge her response. She backed away from them covering her nude torso up with newly scarred arms. The most vocal of the firefighters asked her name, Andrea tried to reply but the words died in her throat. 

From that day forward Marie had noticed a change in her friend. Having spent many more nights in a hospital Andrea was forced to confront her past, thrust back into the mind of a child unable to answer the simplest questions. Did she remember anything, how was she not dead, what was she still doing in the building. It all piled up and made the poor girl jaded to the outside world. She had become more violent, less passive and far more interested in vigilante justice than law brought about by the government. Marie was worried about her friend, but she too withdrew feeling a deep guilt for forcing her friend into that situation. Marie saw everyday how that girl from high-school re-emerged in little ways. The little winces Andrea made when walking past a mirror, her reluctance to try on the clothes she'd been eyeing for months. It was difficult watching her spiral downwards to the beginning of all her hard work. But the duo remained silent until the day Andrea was due to leave for Castor. And as her friend of well over five years drove away all Marie could do was quietly sob, not having done enough to help Andrea once again.

\------2019------

It was a crisp October evening and Andrea sat atop Alexander Sionis's building in Castor, it towered above all the other skyscrapers in the skyline. She dangled her legs off lost in deep thought, this had become a ritual since she had taken up the position of district attorney in the city. This building exuded her fury and growing resentment for the Sionis family. Alexander had never renounced his sons actions, only covered it up and moved on. She had swiftly quit working for him after that, now cursing the ground he walked upon. She was hollow, a husk with no investment in what she was doing. Nothing seemed to fit, nothing brought her joy. Andrea had tried dating, no men could satisfy her, and her dream job had become a nightmare. She continuously was faced with the atrocities people could do onto one another. And Andrea had come face to face with girls the same age as her when her life was ruined. Not even the wealth brought her any satisfaction, life was unfulfilling. That conclusion was what brought her to the top of Sionis tower tonight, she was going to change her life. Clad in a black wool trench coat, black jeans, and black steel toed boots she blended into the night sky. Andrea had concluded that the last time life had fulfilled her was when she confronted Damian inside that engineering lab. So in her desperation to spark some interest in her life she opted to try a different kind of justice for the time being. There was no better city for this of course, Castor Ontario was a cesspool. And while she was mulling over all the terrible things she had since since her time in this city an explosion rippled through a building across the street. At this Andrea sprung into action. 

Lowering herself from the top of Sionis tower with her abilities she rushed across the street which had debris and partially or fully wrecked cars blocking its path. The first bank of Castor had a gaping hole in it, and a group of men in cheap plastic Halloween masks were busy arguing with one another. A woman was bleeding from the head cowering behind the counter, shards of glass in her hair. She was petrified, unable to open the vault despite the endless string of expletives and threats thrown her way. Several other people either lied dead or injured and Andrea had seen enough. She leapt into action, not knowing or having any sort of plan about how she intended to take down a group of heavily armed thugs. It evidently did not matter because her body seemingly went into auto-pilot, directing the woman's movements to inflict the most damage. The first thug twisted around and aimed the shotgun he was holding at Andrea, she reached for his arm, snapping it backwards with a loud crack forcing him to drop the gun. His knees buckled from the pain and he was dispensed of, the other three however now had all their attention on her. The thugs fired with reckless abandon at Andrea and she had been struck several times, however she did not go down easily, instead lunging at one of the three thugs and ripping a piece of tile from the floor beat his face in. Realizing what she had done she stumbled backwards in shock, unable to process the line she just crossed. But she couldn't stew on it too long, she still had much more to deal with. Picking up one of the two disposed thugs weapons she used it as a bat and smacked one of the goons across the face, sending blood and teeth soaring. The last simply surrendered, but Andrea had to restrain herself not to hurt him too. Terrified of what she had just done she ran, ran as far as possible, ignoring the searing pains all over her body entirely.

All of the next morning Andrea sat with poorly sewn up bullet holes in her tiny apartment driving herself insane with thoughts of what would happen to her. But by the afternoon nobody came knocking on her door, and upon turning on the television and tuning it to the news no mention of the previous evenings events were being broadcasted. Instead seemingly every channel, every person on social media was obsessed with the strange appearance of what could only be described as an alien. They wore a white skin-tight bodysuit with a strange, miniscule pattern adorning its surface. They had gold gloves which reached to their forearm, on them was complex inscriptions. The boots were the same, and the gold belt adorning their hips had an unknown symbol on it. But strangest of all was the white and gold helmet completely shielding the creatures identity. It resembled most closely the likes of daft punk, but instead of a black visor it was seemingly a window to the cosmos. They, or well she referred to herself as a she, was created for the sole purpose of bettering planets. She boasted that the gods all of humanity had fought over, were different interpretations of her. And that she came with selfless intentions. Her name was Celeste, and she was bringing friends to fix Earth. And on live television she demonstrated what she meant, with the snap of her fingers she created a tree which went through its entire life cycle in the blink of an eye. It was clear the climate of the world was about to change drastically. And this inspired Andrea to make amends with her old friend, calling Marie and informing her of her plan to train and start an operation out of Castor city to finally fix the institutions Andrea had grown to despise so much. Everything was falling into place, but beyond the duo's realm of cognition things were in play that were about to change their lives forever. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I fucked up and made Andrea old, she's 25 canonically. Reina is 26, Marie is 23, and Sionis is 38. That aside this chapter was hard as hell to write and I regret giving context for the backstory of Andrea and Marie. But thankfully it's over, and we can finally move onto the slow burn of it all. Next chapter, romance and maybe some lewdness? Who knows, but everyone's endgames are kinda set up now and I can comfortably derail the plot with lesbian stupidity.


	4. Choice Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marie and Reina meet for the first time and the interaction is nothing short of a disaster.

"Today's the big day, Renee, I've found my in to meet the Spectre. I'm so close!", Reina spoke through an infectious smile, it had been several weeks since the duo had entered Castor, and things were going smoothly. It was a warm day for winter and so the two women stood outside the building Reina rented for the Gazette to act out of. 

"How the fuck did you manage that, last time we were all in the office Craig said he had a lead, he just said he had a theory that some woman was connected to her. That isn't anything to go off of Reina.", Renee as usual was unimpressed and sipped her already cold latte, trying to brace herself for the flurry of defences Reina would raise. 

"Yeah, but that woman Craig thought was connected is Marie Foster. Best friend to humanitarian Andrea Millar, and more than that, one of the world's best hackers. She's saved the asses of so many companies by finding and fixing their weaknesses. It may seem like she's just some lady on Millar's payroll, but I'm smarter than that. I know someone that smart, and someone with her recent string of luck would want to protect someone like our Spectre. Squashing bugs in a cushy office job won't bring her the justice she's after. So why not become tech support for a vigilante who has the raw power to take down the men who killed her fiance.", Reina's tone fell and rose as she connected invisible dots in her head that nobody else could see. But her vulnerabilities were on display much more visibly, there had been nothing for seven weeks and then this crappy lead. She was feeling the weight, and the bags under her eyes and several energy drinks a day proved it. 

"Okay, so MAYBE, just maybe this Foster chick is working for The Spectre. How are you gonna get her to admit it, and what's more why the fuck do you think she'll set up an interview with her partner?", Renee saw her friend falling apart and reeled back her tone slightly, making sure to gauge Reina's mental state, and more importantly her sincerity. Because Renee knew if her friend was sincere, there was a high chance what she though, or her plan of action were gonna happen regardless of possible failure.

"Well, I've been thinking about it, Celeste unmasked herself recently and she's fine, not that she couldn't have handled the threats anyway. So for her, a secret identity isn't something that is important. Spectre isn't like her, she's a spirit of vengeance for battered women, and reluctantly men. So, frame the interview not as an expose' of her identity, but as a rally cry of hope, that she IS real and Castor is safe. Plus, it'll scare the shit outta criminals to know she's real. It's one thing for your brain to create false fear, but to have that fear validated, makes it richer. So in a way, we're making her job easier.", Reina's tone had calmed, as she intermittently practiced the breathing exercises her friend had taught her. Never breaking eye contact with Renee, they made a silent pact that that evening would be the night. 

Later that day, mere hours before nightfall would descend on Castor Reina stood in the corner of a decrypt parking garage on the outskirts of town. She was starting to fall asleep when a silver Cadillac pulled into an empty space mere feet away from her. From the vehicle Marie emerged, her long red hair tied into a hastily made bun. Her scarred chin and the residual damage around the impacted area on full display. Reina knew this tactic well, she used it when she wanted a conversation to be over quickly. It essentially consisted of flaunting the more unflattering, looked down upon facets of a person's visage. But with steeled determination to meet the vigilante that had haunted her for so long she pressed forward. And as Marie approached, the steel of her will began to crumble. The lie she had used to get the other woman here was disgusting, but some integrity had to be thrown to the wayside to prove the impossible existed.

"What the fuck is this all about lady?! Dredging up old files on my fiance's murder, and for what?! You think some shitty Pulitzer prize makes you more qualified to find his killer than hundreds of train detectives and police officers? This better be fucking good, because how dare you, so, out with it. What have you got?", Marie was fuming and approached Reina with a deeply burrowed rage in her gut, ready to react to even a peep of what Marie didn't want to hear.

"I-I'm look, I'm really sorry, but I don't have anything about Miles Sinclair, that was a lie. But it doesn't have to stay that way, if we work together and you help me with a piece I'm working on I promise we'll get all the answers.", Reina raised her hands defensively to stop an attack that didn't come. Being a journalist she had learned to modulate her tone to better suit the role of negotiator. But she knew with Marie that time was limited on how long she would listen.

"You fucking bitch! You used a fucking dead man to chase a hunch? God you reporters are all the same, and why me huh? Haven't I suffered enough, you goddamn vultures picked the corpse of this story bare. I have nothing for you.", Marie turned to walk away after spitting a potent venom in her face, demeaning both Reina and her work. She was out for blood now. 

"The Spectre, if you two are partners, why hasn't she stopped the Cefaloni crime family? Police might have denied it, but we both know Murray's husband was responsible for his death. Looks to me like she's not as good a hero as she says.", Reina spat back at Marie, her tone vindictive of her conviction to not leave until she got her meeting. This resulted in Marie forcibly pushing the woman against a stone pillar and coming uncomfortably close into Reina's personal space.

"This is about the fucking vigilante of Castor? She isn't a hero, never said she was, and if I was working with her the first goddamn thing we'd be doing is avenging Miles. So don't fucking assume for a second that if a miracle came my way, I wouldn't take it. I've never met her, just know like me she's tired of cunts like you muddying up what justice means. Go back to Keystone tonight, or I promise you won't be leaving at all.", Marie threw Reina to the ground and proceeded to walk away, her voice hoarse from shouting and her breathe becoming increasingly labored from such raw anger.

"I promise, I don't want to out her Marie. I just, I want to give women hope, she's suffered like you, and like me right? She's a goddamn hero whether you two want to acknowledge it or not. I know she's doing everything she can to clean up this city. And if you help me, I'll take down Sionis and with him out of the way the Cefaloni's have no immunity. Everybody wins, I promise you.", Reina was on the verge of an anxiety attack, she was hyperventilating and her words got caught in her throat. 

"The Spectre never wins, but I know you aren't bluffing, and if I know her she'll want to do this for me. So, fine, but I'm watching you. She's met with a reporter before, broke her heart and almost ruined our mission. Don't break her again, like you said the city, and everyone in it needs her. Be good to her Wiles.", Marie's tone had evened out now, borderline sympathetic as she watched the poor woman ride the wave of a panic attack that was nearly drowning her. Walking to her car and returning with a burner phone she set it beside the woman, instructing it to answer when Marie called. 


	5. Destined Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sionis rallies an army, Reina has a little too much, and Andrea shows her softer side.

It was pouring rain in Castor the evening of February second, roads were a disaster of ice and melting snow. Sleet coated the sidewalks, making the impact of Alexander Sionis hitting the pavement all the more painful. He was beaten to a pulp, bleeding heavily from a wound from the head, likely caused by a nasty case of pistol whipping. He clutched his side, writhing in agony, his arm twisted in a disgusting way. Sionis found himself laying just outside the doors to his own club, the Crimson Siren. From within the large, leather covered doors stood Mr.Null, Castor's nastiest crime boss. He wore a white pin-stripe suit, a tight flesh colored mask obscuring his face, it had no facial features. On his hands were black leather gloves, with two pairs of golden brass knuckles clenched in each fist. His black undershirt, and most of the white of the suit were stained with blood. His goons wore a similar attire, white tactical gear, same faceless masks. They flanked him as he leaned down to continue pummeling Sionis into unconsciousness. Then suddenly he stopped, leaning down to whisper something into the corrupt billionaires ear. Sionis only nodded in turn and Mr.Null and his men entered the club once again, large doors swinging inwards cutting off the place from the cold. Distant sirens could barely be distinguished from the high-pitched ringing in Sionis's ears. 

"Last night I was attacked and brutalized outside of my own club! My beautiful wife was performing a new cover she had been practicing for weeks, and as I left to meet our driver out front this Spectre came out of the black and beat me! She kept claiming she knew my sins, that I somehow rigged the election to have our wonderful Mr.Anderson be Prime Minister. There is no evidence of that. Next she claimed I was affiliated with both the Null Gang and the Highlanders. Again, no convictions, and I assure you I would never align myself with such barbarians. She is a lunatic, asserting her own sense of justice, and where are the Celestial Six. We've seen the property damage The Spectre causes, isn't it the mission statement of Celeste to fix our broken world? Yet she, and the CPD are helpless to stop this, this criminal! Today, I beg Andrea Millar of Millar Consolidated to postpone her charity efforts, and use the technology at her disposal to kill this villain. If she can't stomach the deed herself, or her company won't, let our men and women in blue do the deed. Regardless I rally you the good people of our city, to not let this landmark of human history be held under her thumb any longer!", A bandaged and bruised Alexander Sionis had called a press conference at city hall the next morning after the incident. He was raving, practically fuming at the mouth spewing his hatred for The Spectre. Reporters, and citizens alike chanting their agreement. He had a smug smile, the armed officers at his side assuring his lies were uninterrupted. 

"I don't believe she would do that Mr. Sionis, I've been studying The Spectre. There has not been a single murder or arrest that she has committed that hasn't proven to be justified. Not a single one has been unjust, it's scary how accurate she is. The good officers of this cities police department have openly admitted that. Some even owe their lives to her, these crime families and gangs have technology unlike anything we've ever seen. An unfortunate side affect of the Celestial Six being among us. They brought with them tools that could be perverted to commit atrocities, or in the small minds of these criminals, theft and human trafficking. We humans can't compete, and the Six have made a vow of none violence. While that may work in the rest of the world, it won't in Castor. It's been made a historical landmark, a shrine to what we can't afford to be anymore, and as such they won't disturb the events here. And the Prime Minister you love, and other governments have swore to let this city exist as an island. For better or for worse, The Spectre is Castor's savior and if she wanted you dead, you'd be dead.", Reina had pushed through the crowd, her loud commanding voice carrying throughout the sea of voices clamoring to be heard. She was wearing her long red wool coat, with tight black jeans and a matching pair of thigh high boots peaking out from beneath. Her phone was out, recording everything. She had come to defend the vigilante she had placed all her faith into. 

"Reina Wiles, world renowned journalist, or so you claim. Here to write another puff piece about how we owe these powered people everything? Celeste and her group I get, they're accountable for their actions. They play nice, and have only ever done good. But this woman, no this animal you're defending cannot be stopped by regular means, doesn't that terrify you? As a woman of color especially shouldn't you be worried about her targeting you. Her track record shows prejudice does it not? We need those in power to buckle down and put weapons into the hands of those qualified to stop her, then the six can swoop in and safely and humanly clean up our city. We shouldn't be exempt from the warmth they bring to this planet. So, instead of writing about this criminal, how about writing a call to action, for all Canadians, no everyone who cares for justice to rally our governments to put this animal down?", Sionis's tone was dripping with deceit, the same kind all politicians used when bolstering how perfect they were for candidacy in their given race for power. Seeing he had gotten the last word, he waved the crowd goodbye as flashes of camera's covered his escape. 

The rest of the day was uneventful, the temporary office of the Keystone Gazette worked away connecting dots and writing pieces to pay the bills. While in silence Reina, and a recently filled in Renee awaited a call from Marie and The Spectre. Nothing came, and eventually the end of the workday came, everybody cleared out. Renee's new girlfriend had arranged a date for them so she too left Reina all alone. Sitting in the posh leather stools that accompanied the pristine marble counters in a kitchen that would make any professional chef blush Reina waited. A bottle of whiskey half drunk as she bounced her leg up and down, she was anxious and fearful she was defending the wrong person. But the thought of Sionis being right made her stomach churn. And soon she wouldn't have to stew on the morality of her actions, a text on the burner phone dinged echoing loudly in the large, lonely penthouse. It read that she should come to the greenhouse on the roof, someone would be waiting for her. And so she did, tending to the numerous rows of different fauna and flora she turned on the automated mist system and sat in a chair in the corner watching the blurs of cars go past. She must have dosed off because she was jolted awake by the sound of a loud thud. A large, human shaped shadow stood in the most dimly lit corner of the glass house. 

The figure emerged from the shadow and Reina got the best look at the vigilante. Her armor had been upgraded, it was a gunmetal grey bodysuit, with a texture akin to that of steel wool. Dented, weathered copper colored armored platting covered the most vital areas of the mesh bodysuit. A belt with numerous compartments sat askew on the woman's hips, painted a reddish copper color. The same color was present on elaborate metal gauntlets with sharp, knife like protrusions on them. Her boots were knee high with the same knife like protrusions on the back to use to impale someone with a kick. A black, tattered cape draped over her shoulders, and on her face a full mask in the same black color, with that same copper like red color present making a unique design on each side. Only her mouth was visible, bleach white skin scarred with ruby lipstick covering a angry, frowning mouth. Her pupils were not visible, instead piercing white eyes illuminated a ways in front of her. And most prominently was the long, translucent silver hair pouring from the top of the helmet, reaching to her shoulders. Reina gawked at her, the suit was so much cooler than she had envisioned, and her mouth was hanging up in the most undignified fashion. The Spectre moved with ease, not even showing her limbs contorting to form the function. She got closer to Reina, rolling her shoulders back to shunt her cape from her shoulders, it pooling to the ground at her feet. She leaned up against a terrarium filled with violets, the wood at the base turning to ice, a show of force. Reina stared wide-eyed lost for words. One of few times she could ever recall being so. 

"Reina Wiles, I heard you've been looking for me. I'd tell you to stop, but we both know you're incapable of listening to anyone but yourself. Marie tells me you're prone to anxious fits, tell me, do I frighten you? Because if I don't, you really should be terrified. You heard Sionis, I'm the villain and I'll kill anyone who threatens my mission. So tell me, what's the worst way you can imagine dying?", Andrea slunk towards Reina, her voice robotic aided by a new modulated that made her voice sound haunting, demonic even. She raised her arm, causing the sharp objects on her gauntlet to come within inches of the reporters skin. Reina was shaking, but Andrea did not waver, she wanted to traumatize the woman so she would leave Castor for good. 

"I-I t-told Marie I wasn't going to out you. You didn't, I mean you couldn't have really done that to Sionis could you? That's not you, I know you Spectre. You're just trying to help the traumatized and terrified. Am I right? Were you hurt, is that why you hurt others, push people away?", Reina's tone began shakily, uncertain, but she saw a waver in The Specters demeanor, and she was going to exploit it for all it was worth. And so like any good reporter, she pressed, push buttons no sane person would push. 

"You don't know me! You think you can enter anyone's life you please and if you ask the right questions you'll get enough of a story to ruin their life. But I'm not such an easy mark, mommy and daddy didn't make me play dress up and break the knees of rapists and perverts. I do this because I enjoy it, all of it. The killing, the agony and horror in the eyes of people who know they're fucked. And I especially enjoy killing nosy reporters who get in my way. Did it ever occur to you why nobody has ever photographed me, sat down and interviewed me? They're all dead. And if your pompous, entitled ass thinks you'll be any different, then you're not as smart as the world makes you out to be.", Andrea was lying through her teeth, no reporters had seen her because she was illusive, they couldn't offer her anything. But Reina, well Andrea felt differently about her, she knew her story and the pain she'd seen. Her violent tone was a ruse, to see if Reina would stay or run. Because she knew if anyone would write about her as she was, it was Reina Wiles. She had nothing but kindness and empathy for The Spectre of Castor, and Andrea had to test the extent before she let her in. Same thing she did with Marie before they begun this crusade. 

"I don't believe that, Spectre. I've researched you for years, you've haunted me for years, hounded my every waking moment. You were the one failure of my career that really stung, because I felt for you. Nobody knew you, you were hunted and misunderstood. And so for years even after leaving Castor the last time I researched all I could. Not a single reporter died in Castor, hell none of the people who died supposedly by your hand were good people. Not one, your morality is more or less spotless. So cut the bullshit, why, why agree to meet with me? I'm sure you didn't do this with anyone else, this is all a show for me. Are you testing me, scared I'll run away? I'm not going anywhere, I want your side of the story. Alexander Sionis is gunning for your head, let me help clear your name.", Reina had steeled her nerves and pressed herself up against the blades at her throat, her tone determined yet underneath kind and honest. She wanted the aggressive vigilante to know she wasn't lying. 

"I'm the one who helps others, not the other way around. Who cares if I die, not that you or I know if I can. They make a martyr outta me, someone rises to take my place and you're back at square run proving some other vigilante exists. Go back to California, there's no story here. You want to poise me as some kinda hero, one woman against an entire city. But in all honesty, nobody can stop me. This isn't gonna turn into a war, and your words aren't gonna turn the nonexistent tide. So give me one reason I shouldn't destroy all your research and leave you empty handed.", Andrea pushed Reina into the terrarium she had her pushed up against, causing it to be pushed back and Reina to fall roughly to the ground. Andrea backed off and turned to make her leave, but she felt a tug at her cape.

"Please, please I'm begging you! I've been chasing the impossible my entire life, and you were the first example, and nobody believed me, the world said I was crazy. You're proof I wasn't, fuck The Six, you're the real first metahuman. Let me tell your story, I-I can even get you dirt on Sionis, help you weaken the crime families to get to him! I will destroy my credibility for just one chance to prove that I was right, that my entire life long journey was true. Back when I was a kid there was this girl in my class, and she was so intelligent and so strong, s-she could do these things no girl should be able to. And since that day the impossible was real to me. Let me make that journey matter, don't let Celeste overtake you anymore, please, I'll do anything! I just want to be right, for people to respect me!", Reina was shaking and sobbing uncontrollably, her face flushed, makeup running. A direct side effect from the overabundance of alcohol in her blood. She gripped Andrea's cape in a death grip. 

"Get a hold of yourself, you already proved the impossible existed, what more could you want, who matters if I was the first sighting?", Andrea's kindness was beginning to seep back in, she had to use all her power to restrain herself from embracing the shaking mess of a reporter beneath her. 

"I-I never knew Celeste, never got to work with her. It was always with fucking Nebula or Black hole speaking for her. The impossible existed, but I never understood what that meant, or how they felt about it. I can know you, help you and the women you inspire at once. I can make a difference if you let me in, please, I want to be a part of the impossible.", Reina sniffled and tried to stand wobbling, only to feel strong, cool metallic gauntlets holding her up. 

"I know what that's like, to feel invisible. I'll help you, only if you promise not to do anything dangerous, or ruin your career in the process. Marie will arrange a date for the interview, no asking about my identity. And give me everything you know on Sionis. Do that, and the impossible will be yours to know, as far as I can allow you to.", Andrea's tone had turned soothing, and Reina leaned in to kiss Andrea, but she had vanished, leaving Reina wrapped in a warm blanket alone in the greenhouse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeehaw, the first almost kiss! They gonna be fucking soon. Plus actually plot progression, a fight between Sionis and Andrea soon? Probably. I'm thinking the first smut chapter will be posted Valentine's Day. With two or three chapters between this one and that one to get us to a reasonable point where it makes sense.


	6. Martyrs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a violent confrontation in Sionis's club Andrea moves up the date of the interview.

It had been nearly two weeks since Andrea had agreed to meet with Reina. Since that time she had killed significantly less trying to clean up her act before her quotes were put into cyberspace. That all changed however when a young entrepreneur by the name of Amanda Mills went missing. Andrea knew that Sionis, or in this case his alter ego Mr.Null preyed on young women. He would lure them to his club for an informal meeting to discuss a project he had no intentions of funding, and then add them to a long list of brutalized and degraded women. Marie had since updated the suits capacity to track specific DNA samples to the source. And after some roughing up of Sionis's goons Andrea had located the now torn leather jacket that belonged to Miss Mills. Surely enough, she was lead back to the Crimson Siren. Only it was closed for "renovations", a tactic Alexander utilized when he wanted the club free from wandering eyes. Marie was chattering into the earpiece embedded into Andrea's helmet alerting her that a substantial number of gang members were present inside the club, not just Sionis. Andrea surmised that he was rallying the other gangs in the city to lend arms to the Null Gang in exchange for free access to Mills and several other missing women that the duo had been tracking. Flying into a rage Andrea left the perch she was sitting upon opposite the club and slunk her way in through a back window, silently shattering it. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am so pleased to see you all here. As you may well know I recently put a target on my back. And while I, or well my more clean counterpart has the resources to make weapons to take down our Spectre, I can't well do that without prying from the public. Fortunately for me however, you've all agreed to meet with me. Todd Cefaloni, Tabitha Heart, Credence "The Drowned" Amsterdam, and Carl Pierce you are all the most infamous leaders of debauchery in this town. Your technology has helped you gang millions, and kept the CPD off your backs. But not our Spectre, no she has taken from you all, Pierce she almost ran the Highlanders out of town! But with my inside information on the physiology of these meta humans we can kill her, and the technology you have can once again be used to keep your slices of Castor neatly squared away as yours. So join me, enjoy my hospitality, and tomorrow this alliance can set their sights on ending a God.", Sionis was in his Mr.Null getup giving an impassioned speech to murderers and rapists. They weren't too interested in his words, but the woman he had forced into service kept them on his side. They were wining and dining in the private quarters of the club. The main room was patrolled by goons from each groups gangs. 

"I'm in.", The Drowned was the first to respond, her long brown trench coat shifting as she moved to meet Null's gaze.

"Same here.", Pierce spoke, rubbing his salt and pepper colored beard with keen interest, his eyes never leaving the assets of the young girl on his lap. 

"If I get to keep her corpse as a statue, then consider me in too.", Tabitha smiled, gold lipstick contorting into a demented smile. 

"Long as you leave the freaks in their corner, and my family in its own then you've got my help Sionis. Haven't I always?", Todd spoke unperturbed as he squeezed the ass of the girl who brought him a drink. 

"Good, it's settled then, we stop the Spectre and reap the rewards, simple.", Sionis stood and rose his glass to toast his league of scum. One by one the rest of his friends rose clinking their glasses together jovially. 

Andrea had heard enough and descended onto the stage in the center of the clubs main floor. Men and women were swarming the place, each dressed in heavy tactical gear and holding either automatic weaponry or the guns Andrea had thought she had destroyed during her last encounter with the Highlanders. There must have been well over a hundred gang members training their weapons on the now out in the open Spectre. And so Andrea got to work, grabbing the gun out of the hands of the nearest criminal, smacking them across the head with it, the impact causing their neck to snap and their corpse to go flying and crashing into the glassware housed in the bar close to the clubs entrance. The reaction from the other mercenaries came at Andrea in a sea of rapid firing bullets, rippling through the club. Thousands of holes went through tables, curtains, walls, and precious sound equipment. Then the bullet rain stopped as one goon raised their arm to signal a ceasefire. They got into position, lining themselves in a straight line from wall to wall, and with another flick of their hand the firing squad rained hell down on Andrea. Bullets dented the plating of her suit, some deflecting off her suit and ricocheting throughout the club killing several guards. With a mocking crack of the neck Andrea rolled her shoulders back, cape bellowing to the ground. Then in a blur she rushed the line, forcing her fist through a mercenaries chest and crushing his heart. She removed the organ and hurled it at another with such velocity it killed the target she aimed upon. In a mix of horror and rage the remaining members fired down upon Andrea again, but it didn't stop her any longer. She elbowed a goon in the face, causing him to stumble back from the impact, relinquishing his gun to the vigilante. She used her abilities to freeze the weapon, shattering it instantly. Smirking at her test, she created two icicles in each hand, and raced around the room with incredible, inhuman speed slaughtering the horde of fodder that had so delightfully given Andrea enough time to charge her power up to full. Now dripping with blood she cast aside the blunt icicles and relied on her fists. She beat her way through the remaining few, the last of which she lightly tapped. She scoffed at the vigilante, realizing all too late that Andrea had afflicted her with a deep freeze. And under the cover of the mercenaries screams as she froze from the inside out, Andrea searched the club in hastily. She shattered through walls hoping upon hope that Sionis hadn't ducked out. But he had, and all Andrea was met with was the corpses of the young woman Andrea had neglected in favor of thinning out the numbers of Alexander's new army. 

The morning after the slaughter at the Crimson Siren Andrea sat in the bunker alone, watching the large series of monitor document the incident. Every news channel was covering it, and Andrea sat dejected at her actions. She had gotten so angry her mind lost all reason, and innocent girls lost their lives because of it. Turning up the sound on one specific monitor Andrea froze from what she heard. The chief of Castor's police department stood out front the club, police officers and CSI working busily behind him. He revealed to the news anchor interviewing him that they were going to take Alexander Sionis's advice and seek outside help to bring The Spectre to justice. He did not necessarily confirm that they were intending to kill Andrea, but that they were after her. Fuming Andrea used her telekinesis to blow the fuse box, causing all electricity in place to suddenly go out. Now sitting in darkness she allowed herself to sob, she slipped from the chair she sat in and screamed through a sea of tears. She had fucked up their crusade, there was no hope. And when Marie returned with breakfast from their favorite place she found the bunker much colder than when she left, the walls were coated with a thick layer of ice. Andrea's mind was overworking, her anger and grieving taking full control of her powers, forcibly making her alter the temperatures in the room. The duo had discovered that intense emotion made the meta's powers act up before cutting out completely. This was the only evidence of any form of weakness the girl had. Rushing to her sobbing friend Marie risked hypothermia as she approached Andrea. It was freezing the closer she got, but she didn't care, and as she knelt down to embrace her friend Marie asked a question Andrea was not willing to answer.

"Andrea, hon I think we need to move up the interview with Reina. She's got the tools to help clean this mess up before Alexander can get too powerful.", Marie set the bag of food down beside her friend, embracing the woman and slowly rubbing circles around the length of her back. 

"Those girls, they're my fault Marie. And Alexander can twist it to his favor, lie and say he was trying to protect them, that I killed them. It's over, the Celestial Six are gonna come and execute me.", Andrea was still sobbing, the soothing motions on her back doing nothing to calm her.

"Maybe, but we've got Reina Wiles on our side. She can prove your innocence. Plus, she'll agree with me that you did your best, nobody knows what it's like to deal with situations like that. Anger can consume you, emotions run high. We both don't blame you, and Castor won't either if you just let your voice be heard.", Marie released Andrea as she noticed her calming and the temperature rising in the room again.

"Fine, text her, tomorrow. Today we build profiles on the gangster Sionis is getting in bed with. I want to know what modifications they did to themselves, the technology they could unleash. And we also need to know what the Six are up to. They need to stay as far away from this city as possible.", Andrea rose to her feet and walked down the long corridor to the armory, ready to suit up and find answers.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my first story here, and I'm not exactly well versed on how to go about writing engaging and interesting romances. So we'll have to see how well our girls do, I have faith however that as I grow so will our protagonists. Anyway, please enjoy and don't worry if a chapter contains smut it will be clearly labeled as such. So if you're here for the vigilante justice or simply lesbian stupidity you'll get that and only that. And for those searching for more, I'll give it to you.


End file.
